Dominican retreat leader blurs line between life and afterlife

Dominican Father Nathan G. Castle celebrated Mass at the end of a daylong contemplative retreat called “Living in Eternity Now” at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Bolinas Nov. 3. (Photo by Christina Gray/Catholic San Francisco)
 
November 15, 2018
Christina Gray

Anyone interested in cultivating a “sense of living in eternity now” should open themselves up more intentionally to the communion of saints and souls, said the leader of an All Souls weekend contemplative retreat at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Bolinas Nov. 3.
 
“If you don’t already have the custom of intimate prayer with the saints or the souls, I want to give you a few tips,” said Dominican Father Nathan G. Castle, a priest and author with a unique ministry to what he calls “stuck souls” struggling in afterlife after harrowing deaths.
 
If you want to create a relationship with anyone who has died you can just ask, said Father Castle who joined the Dominican order in 1979 and has led the Catholic communities at Stanford University and Arizona State University. “You don’t have to “project yourself out” or “telepathically send a message,” he said. “You just have to say I want you to be with me right now.”
 
“St. Dominic was very helpful to me in the years when I needed a lot of help,” he said. If you ask one of the saints or souls to be with you, they will be with you just as you are now. Father Castle’s presentation called, “Living in Eternity Now: Friendship with Jesus, the Saints and the Souls,” shared insights derived from his experiences as a priest who has helped hundreds of people who died suddenly and often traumatically, adjust to the afterlife.
 
“Nobody drags you down that road or into that light,” he said. “You have to go willingly into the afterlife and participate as you are able.” There’s a certain portion of the population that struggle and it’s not a statement of morality or being “sentenced” to it.
 
In his self-published book “Afterlife, Interrupted: A Catholic Priest Explores the Interrupted Death Experience” (Fluid Creations, 2018), Father Castle shares the stories of 13 such people who over the course of 20 years have come to him in his dreams seeking help in resolving their afterlife experience. Father Nathan and a prayer partner were able to help come to terms with their fate.
 
Father Castle was invited to lead the part silent, part interactive retreat at the historic rural parish by Dominican Father Bruno Gibson who travels each week from Tiburon where he lives to celebrate Sunday Mass at St. Mary Magdalene, a mission of Sacred Heart Parish in Olema. He and a small group of dedicated friends have created an extension of his longtime “View from a Ridge” retreats in Marin County in the metaphorically-named “View from the Shore” retreat series in Bolinas.
 
Although such contact with the “other side” was not something he sought out, Father Castle said that he has come to believe that providing such help is something the Holy Spirit has given him to do.
 
“Inside the body of Christ, I believe that you and I can talk to anybody because we are connected physically,” he said. It’s not just wishful thinking, he said. “Aren’t there people you love who live in different states? It’s the same thing with death and the afterlife.”
 
About 20 participants began the day with morning prayers and contemplation of question: “How would my life be different if I lived my entire life conscious of the eternal companionship of Christ, the saints and the souls?
 
Lunch was taken silently in the serene coastal graveyard followed by a contemplative walk led by sprightly 87-year-old Father Bruno, who took retreat-goers down the dirt driveway of the historic church, past a rural farm stand and through a densely-vined coastal trail to the sweeping shore of the Bolinas Lagoon. The day concluded with evening Mass concelebrated by both Dominican priests.
 
Father Castle spoke in a hush to Catholic San Francisco in the graveyard that the topic was “especially fitting here.”
 
“What I try to do is help people understand that to be human, to have a human nature is to be both temporary and permanent, mortal and immortal, in different ways at the same time,” he said.

Vallombrosa Center in Menlo Park will be hosting an exclusive dinner and talk with Father Nathan Castle on Dec. 7 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Signed copies of his book, “Afterlife Interrupted” will be available. Registration is required at www.eventbrite.com/e/afterlife-interrupted-dinner-talk-with-the-author-nathan-castle-op-tickets-52736532388.

 
 
Dominican Father Bruno Gibson holds his hands out in prayer at the shore of Bolinas Lagoon after leading a contemplative walk with participants of his “View from the Shore” retreat Dominican speaker series. (Photo by Christina Gray/Catholic San Francisco)